Pack Animals
by Lady Khazaroth Mur
Summary: When a Half-Life come knocking on the Stacks's door, babbling about a horrific creature on the loose, things start to take a lupine twist as an ancient curse bears its fangs. Background Luke/Mina.
1. Beast on the Loose

**A/N: Hey Guys, I am currently in love with the series Demons, so I did a bit of thinking and came up with this idea, hope you enjoy.**

**A/N: Demons does not belong to me.**

The raw morning mist bled across the cityscape. He might have been the last Van Helsing, but he still had to go to school. The familiar shuffle of peoples' feet on the floorboards mixed in with the sharp sounds of crossed conversations in the air around him. Then without warning, a familiar figure bounced up behind Luke and playfully smashed into him.

"Heya," Ruby chirped.

Luke grinned to himself, "Hi." Luke's eyes flicked over Ruby when he spotted a section of rough cloth, dotted with dark red, lashed around her right arm. "What happened to you?" he asked, pointing towards the bandage.

"That?" Ruby mumbled, "A stray dog of my estate bit me, it's nothing really." Luke opened his mouth to say something when Ruby swiftly changed the topic. "So," she whispered, "How's my Van Helsing?" Luke couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Well there was this Type 10…"

Now a blanket of night hung over the same cityscape. Night, the time when the Freaks came out to play. But all was reasonably quiet in the Stacks, except for Galvin's constant growing at the coffee machine. Luke was scanning a set of ancient text that Galvin had made him read, something about high level Half-Lives. Mina sat sedately next to him, drumming her fingers on a red and white striped mug. They had been expecting another night undisturbed of Half-Life attacks, until the maddened hammering began from outside.

"What the hell?" Galvin grumbled, striding over to the monitor for the outside cameras.

"What's trying to get in?" Luke questioned, straightening up.

"Nothing too powerful, looks like a Type 5," Galvin moaned, "I'll go get him."

He began to swagger up the steps leading to the door, clicking the safety of his Pulse Gun. Mina lowered her mug; Luke could tell what she was thinking by the expression drawn across her features. The only time anyone had come knocking on the Stacks's door was when that Rat Man had come to tell Galvin that was back, and that had resulted in him and Galvin almost drowning, and Ruby and Mina almost being blown up.

A thunderous click echoed about the Stacks and the banging stopped. Luke expected to hear the blast of Galvin's Pulse Gun, to hear another Freak being dispatched, but it did not come. In its place, a limestone white figure crashed down the steps and landed in a quivering heap upon the floorboards. Galvin stomped down the steps, eyes blazing with pure hate. "This Freak apparently has some news for us," he boomed.

The ivory figure scrabbled up onto its knees; it looked like a normal human to Luke, except that its eyes were as black as tar and a dancing serpent's tongue flicked from its mouth.

The Half-Life began to speak, faster than running water and in an un-naturally dry voice, " I'm begging you, please don't kill me, I have something very important to tell you."

"I'm not sure about the first bit," Galvin barked, "But hurry up and tell me the God Damn information!"

The Half-Life shrunk father into his heap, entire body quivering with fear, "There's something out there, something different, and very powerful!"

"Tell me something that I don't know," Galvin snarled, angling his Pulse Gun at the Freak's head.

"There's this creature out there though," the thing babbled, his speech becoming more incomprehensible by the second, "the most terrible creature!"

Before the next roar could surface from Galvin, Mina promptly cut him off, "What kind of creature?" The Freak twisted its head round to look at her, "Well, it was big…"

"Like that narrows it down…"Luke muttered to himself.

"…and it was furry and vicious, I saw it rip a human in half and bite one's head clean off…"

At the mention of the word 'furry' Luke heard an almost silent intake of breath beside him, Mina had begun to shiver, her hands balling into tight fists. A mix of what looked like hatred and fear had fallen across her face. Slowly, Luke placed one of his own hands over hers, stroking his thumb across her knuckles, and the pace of her rapid breaths began to fall.

Galvin was getting bored of this Freak's macabre monologue about what he had seen the creature do and how it had done it. With one swift motion the barrel of his gun was pressed between the Freak's eyes. "Go on," he taunted,"say it, one little word."

The Half-Life gave out one last trembling breath "…lupine…"

The Pulse Gun fired and in a flash of vibrant purple light, the Half-Life became a pile of ash. "Right then," said Galvin "we've got a high level Freak on our hands."

"Galvin, I don't think we should charge after it," Luke swiftly replied, eyes still focused on Mina's face.

Galvin clicked his tongue, "Maybe you're right for once, we'll re-group tomorrow."

"Thanks for the confidence," Luke muttered to himself, as his and Mina's chairs scraped back.

Helping Mina into her coat, Luke glanced back at Galvin, he was till staring at the pile of ashes. Mina's heels began to click on the stairs and Luke followed her, taking another look back. "Hey, Galvin!" he cried.

Galvin looked up, "What?"

"Don't do anything stupid."

Galvin curtly answered back with an edge of steel in his voice, "You obviously don't know me that well."

Luke was tempted to throw back a comment about but he thought better of it. Following the echoing footsteps of Mina, he left Galvin alone in the Stacks.

Galvin's gaze was focused on the heap of ash. He shut his eyes and thought hard, the Freak could have only been talking about one kind of Half-Life. Casually, he scattered the ashes with his foot, whilst mumbling to himself,"You better be right about this."


	2. The Legend of Fenrir

**A/N: Thanks for the positive response so far, I appreciate it guys. **

**Disclaimer: Demons is not mine.**

"What are we doing here?"

Luke got no answer as Galvin continued to stair resolutely through the windscreen of his car, hands gripping tightly to the steering wheel. Luke sighed, "Galvin, what are we doing here?"

"I'm testing out a theory."

"About what?"

"This Half-Life we're tracking."

"Aren't those half-a-dozen dilapidated bodies enough evidence for you?"

Galvin's shoulders sagged, "I mean to see if this Freak is what I think it is."

"Tell me this 'theory' of yours then," Luke grumbled, eyes scanning the blackness beyond the vehicle.

"If it's what I think it is," explained Galvin, "then we won't be able to catch it for around another month."

"So, lemme guess, we're in here for the long haul?"

"Yes we are," Galvin's jaw set into a strong line and he returned to his vigil. Luke wouldn't get anything out of him until morning. "Great," he grumbled, sliding further down into his leather seat.

"I guess you didn't catch the creature last night?"

Luke was slumped over the table, half-asleep after staying awake all last night with Galvin, who had said nothing for most of it. "Take a wild guess," he said, voice muffled by the table. Mina sniffed, "It hardly surprised me really."

Luke raised his head to look at the blind girl, "What do you mean?" Abruptly, Mina stood up, swiftly stalking away into the Stacks.

Luke watched her walk away, sweeping her cane in front of her, so he pushed his chair back and followed. Jogging slightly to catch up with her, Luke saw the same expression of fear and hate across her features that he had seen there when the ivory Half-Life had come knocking on the Stacks's door two nights previously. "Mina," Luke began, "Can I ask you something, when that Half-Life started babbling about that creature, you looked like you'd seen a ghost."

Mina stopped, her grip tightening around her cane, "More like a Wolf."

"What?"

"That thing, I know what it was. I know what it was because I have hated it all my life because of what I am."

Mina shoulders began to violently shake and she began to grit her teeth. Luke remembered when Mina had stood up to her son, Quincey, and he half expected to see her vampiric fangs burst from her gums. Luke locked his hands around her shoulders, trying to calm her from this sudden rage. "Mina," Luke said, his voice shrinking to a relaxing whisper, "I need you to tell me what this thing is."

Suddenly, Mina pressed her head against Luke's chest. Luke could feel a burning heat rising in his cheeks and thanked what Gods there were that Mina was blind. Then Mina snarled the name of the beast out, it almost sounded like it hurt her to even say it, "Werewolf."

"Luke!" roared a familiar American voice. Galvin had arrived in his usual fashion. Luke stuck his head round a bookshelf; Galvin was standing at the top of the stair, beating a tattoo on the floor with his boot-clad foot. "Come on, we've got important stuff to do so get your ass in the car!" Galvin yelled.

Luke glanced back at Mina, "Go on," she bitterly spat, "you don't want to keep Galvin waiting." Luke curled one of his arms around her, pulling Mina into a crushing hug before sprinting off to the irritated Galvin. Mina felt herself blush but only for a mere second as she returned to her hate-filled musings. The Stacks was now silent but every corner stunk of malice greater than any.

"Not this crap again."

Luke had been blindfolded again, waiting to be assaulted by Galvin and/or his instructor friends. The first time Galvin had forced him into this exercise at the gym was to train him in fighting vampires, it didn't take too much guesswork to discover why he was doing it again.

"Werewolves Luke, this is all about Werewolves."

Luke was just about to say that Mina had told him this already but a figure crashed straight into him, what felt like claws lashing around his throat. With a yell of shock, Luke smashed his elbow into the attacker's face, tearing the supposed 'werewolf' from his back.

"The first records of what we would regard as 'werewolves' began way back, here in Britain in the time of the Celts," Galvin said, another assailant launching himself at Luke. "A Welsh Druid predicted the end of the world in, so many of the Celtic people flew into mad panic, and then the Wolves arrived."

Another thud as a fake Werewolf hit the crash mats, "The Werewolves right?" Luke asked.

"Half right," Galvin said knowingly, "this was a pack of Half-Life wolves, in the legends they were said to come 'from the howling cold winds of the North' but what we can be sure of is they were lead by Fenrir."

At the mention of the name Fenrir, a ripple of ice seemed to trembled through Luke, the same reaction prompted by names such as Dracula and Frankenstein. "Who the hell was Fenrir?" he queried, wincing as a set of claws ripped through his shirt.

Galvin fell silent for a second before continuing, "Fenrir is regarded as the werewolf equivalent of Dracula and he supposedly had many powers. One was to turn into a normal wolf or another was to create snowstorms with his breath." Another muffled thud. "Fenrir's Pack were not typical werewolves, they had no pure-human form, only those of the Werewolf."

"The people saw Fenrir's wolves and believed they were Gods…," Galvin paused, "…so still fearing of the end of the world, they wanted to have immortal ancestors…and they interbred with the Wolves." Luke could hear the disgust in Galvin's voice; he knew how much Galvin hated the Freaks.

"The children could shift between human form and werewolf form at will, gifted with the powers of the Wolf, they became the great Druids, Prophets and even Lords, secretly guided by Fenrir himself."

Luke quickly parried a rush of slashing claws, Galvin continued, "Fenrir saw the potential of the Wolf-Men, and swiftly killed his old pack, which had become lazy through the peoples' worship of them."

Two sets of claws locked around Luke's throat, "So this Fenrir guy sounds like a laugh then," Luke said sarcastically, throwing off the men, their faked claws whistling through the air.

"Oh the best is yet to come," Galvin growled, an aggressive smile forming on his features, "Fenrir saw that the Wolf-Men were using their powers for good, to keep the peace, and naturally Fenrir thought this was not what wolves should do. So on the next Full Moon he invited every Wolf-Man to a feast."

A pulverizing shot crushed into Luke's back, "Another one of Fenrir's powers was his affinity with the moon, and he could control tides and even summon the Full Moon to the sky apparently. So Fenrir decide to use his powers in the trap he had placed." Another bone-smashing shot, this time in his chest. Galvin continued the tale, his voice becoming more angry each second, "Fenrir poisoned all the food at the feast with his own blood, and the Wolf-Men ate it. At the feast's end, the legends say that Fenrir leapt onto the tables and howled to the Full Moon, screaming out the curse upon all of them…"

Luke heard the charged smite coming towards him but then Galvin's words seemed then to evaporate within his mind and he swore he could hear Fenrir's voice, and see the moonlit glade. Fenrir roared to the Full Moon, as all around him screamed in fear as their skin split apart, vicious claws ripping through their fingernails.

"You have all been deceived!" the demonic Fenrir yowled in triumph, "You think you could help the pathetic humans? We are wolves, we do not help humans, we _gorge_ upon them! From now on and forever, every one of you shall morph at Full Moon into the murderous creature all of you are, your children and your children's child shall bare my curse also. And the food you have just eaten was poisoned with my blood, so when you bite a human and they live, they shall become like you!"

A echoing howling seemed to bring Luke back to his senses, but it wasn't a howl anymore, it was Galvin. Luke felt rough hands rip away the blindfold. Galvin stood above him, looking confused, worried and angry all at the same time. Luke was sprawled across the crash mats, the cluster of nerves at the base of his spine felt like they were on fire. "Are you ok?" Galvin grunted, "I think we hit you too hard."

Luke didn't speak, this was probably the reason why his imagination had gone mad, probably why he thought he had heard and seen the demon Fenrir. Even though the Fenrir in his imagination was defiantly a million miles for the truth, there was still something about him that scared Luke more than a bunker full of missiles.

"What happened to Fenrir after?" Luke finally managed to croak.

"He vanished," Galvin grumbled, not helping Luke up "The normal people heard what happened and went to kill him, but Fenrir had disappeared."

Galvin slunk off, Luke stayed lying on the crash mats, turning over what he had just heard in his head. Yet there was one question he still wanted answering.

There was creak as the gym doors opened, "Galvin," Luke cried.

"What?"

"Why do vampires hate werewolves so much?"

Luke heard Galvin's exasperated sigh, "Vampires and Werewolves' hate for each other is a bit like White and Black humans' hate of each other. Ultimately we're all the same deep down, just big bags of chemicals but it's the little differences that make us hate each other. It's the same with werewolves and vampires. Their both perfect killing machines but whereas Vampires work on glamours and trickery, werewolves rely on brute strength."

A father creak and an ominous gust of laughing wind blasted through the gym doors, "If you get cornered by a Werewolf with no escape, you won't be able to find your lower intestines for a few weeks." The gym doors slammed shut and Luke heard Galvin's car engine start up outside.

With a grumbling roar the car pulled away, Luke still lying on the crash mats. He sighed, eyes sliding shut. Maybe it wouldn't be as easy to kill this Freak as the others he had been up against so far. The only way Luke knew he would find out, was to face the beast square-on next Full Moon.


	3. Hunting

**A/N: This chapter was quite hard to write, hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimers: Demons ain't mine**

A month had passed since the werewolf had been sighted and now the pearly eye of the Full Moon bathed the landscape in its sickly glow. Its rays reflected off the skyscrapers, making the city burn with white light.

Down in the Stacks however, the fatal sound of bullets being loaded echoed round the vast library. Galvin and Luke were preparing for a hunt, a wolf hunt. Mina sat silently to herself, quietly pleased that the mangy mutt would be taken care of, and she could finally step out of its shadow.

"So the plan is?" inquired Luke, locking in the ammo into his rifle.

Galvin slid a revolver into an inner jacket pocket, "The plan is we take Mina with us, the Werewolf should be able to smell her miles away."

Luke's voice dropped to an aggressive whisper, "So we're using Mina as bait?"

Galvin didn't answer.

"So we grade it and smite it then." Luke growled.

Galvin nodded, "Like we always do."

Galvin picked up his Pulse Gun with a flourish, and then he began to glance round the Stacks, like he had forgotten something. "Where's Ruby? I thought she wouldn't pass up the chance of a Wolf Hunt," he grunted.

"She's ill," Luke resolutely said, "she got a stomach bug that's been going round the area."

"My driver caught that," Mina added.

Galvin huffed, rolling his neck out. "Right," Galvin snapped, "We've got a job to do!"

Galvin had decided to return to the alley where they had found the Werewolf's victims last Full Moon, hoping that the Beast would return to its territory. The blistering wind snaked through the crates and dustbins, seeming to chill all it touched. Luke shivered, his breath misting before his eyes. Galvin shone his wide bore torch into the oncoming fog, its beam deflecting off the thick mist. Mina walked in step beside Luke, her heels echoing on the tarmac, her entire form tense with anticipation.

"Galvin!" Luke shouted into the fog, "How do you know the Wolf will come back here?"

"To be brutally honest I don't," Galvin muttered to himself before shouting back, "I just do, it's how Werewolves act!"

Luke didn't believe Galvin's theory, his fingers tightened around the leather grip on his rifle. Then Mina's heels fell silent, she had fallen to a swift halt, her figure beginning to shake. Luke knew that only meant one thing.

"It's here. I can smell it."

A vicious growl reverberated down the alley, making Mina's blood run cold. A tall figure advanced from the fog, fangs bared, claws glinting in the pale moonshine. It was a Werewolf.

The Un-Holy beast had the stature of a human but the form of a wolf. Its fur was a deep blood red, its honey eyes burning with hate and wrath. The thing moved with a strangely feminine gate for such an atrocity, its tail silently swishing behind its muscular back legs.

Galvin's sudden roar brought Luke back to his senses, "Luke! Shoot the Damn Werewolf!"

"Galvin…" Mina gasped, voice shaking madly.

"Mina, be quiet! Luke shoot the Werewolf!"

"Galvin I think we should…" Luke interrupted.

"Nothing, shoot it!"

"Luke…"

"Mina!"

"…it's staring at me… "

"Shoot the bloody Werewolf!"

Luke pulled the trigger, the Freak crushing bullet speeding to its mark. But, with perfect reflexes, the Wolf caught the shell from the thin air. An ominous crunch resounded; green and silver liquid dribbled from in-between the Creature's fingers. What looked like smugness flared into life in the Werewolf's eyes, a gothic smile smeared across its face.

"Ah," Luke mumbled.

"Ah? Is that all you can say?" Galvin thundered.

"Ah, is good. I like ah." Mina quickly stammered.

A growl and the Werewolf sprang, ruthless claws stretched out, Mina's name written all over them.

The thing landed, Mina and the Wolf smashing to the concrete in a ball of fur and cries of age-old hate.

Mina could feel the beast's fangs inches from her throat, blazing hot breath blasting her normally ice cold skin. Through every inch of her, her vampire side screamed to take over, to make her see what she was facing, to make her be able to put down this travesty to nature. She hated Werewolves and the Werewolf hated her, the only thing they would probably ever agree on.

The weight trapping her chest was suddenly freed as Galvin lashed his arms round the Wolf's neck, yanking it away in a mass of snarls and flying claws. Luke could see Galvin's hands trying to force the Werewolf's jaws shut, fingers mere centimeters from an eternal fate, the Curse of Fenrir.

"Galvin, don't let it bite you!" Luke yowled, eyes darting to Mina who was still slumped on the tarmac.

"Like I don't know that!" he barked.

The Werewolf then hurled itself backwards, slamming into a dirty brick wall. A graphic crunch punctuated the scene as Galvin caught the full force of the wall. The power faded from his arms, the once mighty man crumpling on the floor like a child's rag doll.

The Werewolf casually flexed out its back muscles, like it did this kind of thing every day. Every Full Moon probably, Luke thought. His train of thought froze, its wheel screeching to a halt on its tracks as the Wolf's eyes slid up to meet his. The vast amber colored mire of bestial fury gazed straight into Luke's very soul, but somewhere deep down, behind all the madness, laid a spark of humanity. Luke had an idea of his own, he guessed he couldn't fight this thing, but there was also an alternative.

"Werewolf!" Luke cried, trying to sound like Galvin, trying to use the same commanding tone.

"You can't talk to it, it won't listen, there isn't enough humanity left for it to understand," came Mina's strangled tones from behind Luke, trying to recover from the blow to her skull.

Luke then opened his mouth to shout something at the Werewolf, but he couldn't think of anything that could stop this thing from killing him and Mina. Those honey eyes were mocking him, daring him to speak, like it was waiting for his last words. The Wolf stalked towards him, body tense, it was going to spring and Galvin was going to be right in his predictions about Luke's intestines.

A crack like a whip smote the air; the Wolf gave a high pitched whimper as a plume of red blossomed from its shoulder. Luke grimaced as the Beast's blood splattered his coat, the smell of gore filling his nostrils.

A rush of blood red sped past Luke, fangs shining, eyes crazed with panic. The Werewolf bolted into the swirling mist, vast bounds sending the Creature hurtling over the ground, sending cardboard boxes flying in its wake. The Werewolf had disappeared into the night, and probably wouldn't be seen again by Luke until next Full Moon.

Luke's head pivoted about to see Galvin locked in a single pose, fist grasping a smoking revolver. Galvin had shot the Werewolf. "I think you owe me a thank-you," Galvin said, voice full of irritation, "as I just save your pitiful life."

Luke snorted, "But I thought you were the one hell bent on killing the Werewolf. You went and scared it off!"

"We still have a chance," Galvin's raged, his anger only now matched by that of the Wolf, "I wounded it, it can't of gone far."

"For something that brutal and powerful, that was just a scratch." Luke helpfully pointed out.

"A little help here," interrupted Mina, trying to break up the oncoming argument.

Luke switched his attention away from Galvin, who was still giving him a venom filled glance. Luke rapped his hand around Mina's outstretched fingers, scooping his other arm under her back to help her to her feet. With a pained snarl, Mina staggered up, gloved hand sliding across the back of her skull, searching for potential damage.

"Are you ok?" Luke murmured, arms still locked around Mina's waist.

"I'll be fine," she groaned, one eye screwed up in pain.

An un-natural cracking noise sounded as Galvin rose up. He winced, swearing that he had broken something important. But still, he had been Freak Hunting all his life, you learned to get over these things. And right now there was still a job to do. "You two," Galvin snarled, "Get in the bloody car; we can still catch up with the Wolf!" Without another word, Galvin stormed off, following the same path as the Werewolf did, kicking a few wooden crates away for good measure. Arguing with Galvin when he acted like this was near-on impossible, so reluctantly, Luke and Mina followed.

The choking hum of Galvin's car filled Luke's mind, his Godfather was driving down street after street like a madman, attempting to find, or even catch sight of the Wolf. Galvin kept muttering to himself, things that Luke couldn't hear properly, except for a few words, especially 'wolf'.

Leaning his head against the solid headrest, Luke took a glance sideways to look at the figure next to him in the back of the car. Mina had drifted away a while back, head lolling onto his shoulder, her silky hair falling across his chest. Luke felt a certain urge to run his hands through it, trying to convince himself that it was because he should check if Mina had taken any wounds from when the Wolf had leapt at her.

The car screeched and lurched as Galvin threw it round a corner with too much force, Luke felt Mina press against him, and again the burning began in his cheeks. Luke squirmed under the blazing fire that always seemed to mount upon him every time he even got close to Mina. Luke may have been good when it came to killing Freaks, but he was hopeless with his emotions. Luke then simply shifted in his seat and in the midst of her groggy sleep; Mina entwined her arms around Luke's waist. Luke felt the burning wildly increase, mind madly cart-wheeling about what Galvin would think of his behavior.

He didn't approve as the loud and awkward cough from the front illustrated. "It would help if you kept your mind on the job," Galvin inaudibly growled, Luke swearing he could here slight mirth somewhere in the vast marsh of distemper Galvin appeared to emanate. Luke had no chance to answer as Galvin turned his concentration back to the road, hurling the car into another tight corner.

Eventually, the ruddy rays of the sunrise spread across the cityscape, turning the buildings gold, in comparison of last night when the all glowed silver, under the mysterious light of the Full Moon. A forlorn team of Smiters returned to the Stacks. With a puffing bay, Galvin's car spluttered to a halt outside the secret entrance to the underground network where the Stacks lay. Luke, through bleary eyes, gazed out of the grubby car window to the grated entrance. It had been ripped open.

"Galvin…" Luke said hesitantly.

"I see it…" his Godfather mumbled. Three car doors creaked open as the Smitters climbed out into the florid sunlight, Galvin advancing on the smashed grating. An alien feeling of foreboding emitted from the grey darkness within. Cautiously, Galvin motioned for Luke and Mina to follow him. Beyond the ex-grating the tunnels reached in many directions, steadily digging into the earth. A sensation of unknowingness in the air, the three followed the path that lead deep into the ground, straight down to the Stacks.

A yell off disgust sparked up from Mina, "There's blood all over the floor!"

The pit dropped out of Luke's stomach, ever though Mina was blind, she could clearly identify the deathly aroma of rust and the squelch of the fluid underfoot. There were puddles of plasma splashed at irregular intervals down the subterranean corridor. "Keep moving," Galvin breathed, now scanning the darkness, expecting to see something leap for the gloom, fangs lusting for more blood.

Luke had a suspicion that he knew what Galvin was expecting to bear down upon him, honey eyes laughing.

The unsteady trail of red continued, sometimes patterned along the walls in streaks of three. They were claw marks. At the pace of a snail, the door to the Stacks appeared from the black. It had been torn from its brackets, the triple gouge marking the robust metal. The trail of claret continued straight into the Stacks, its offensive colour coating the rough stonework around the door like some grisly form of paint.

Mina trailed her fingers across the gashes. A rush off images and sound began to flare before Mina's eyes, the power of her second-sight scorching into abrupt life.

The awful sounds screaming from the vision threatened to pierce Mina's very skull. A terrible cocktail of wolfish howls and humane screams thundered about her cranium, the blurred images of the Beast shifting forms tattooed on her irises, bones snapping back into their original spaces, sinew binding itself back together with a sickening slurp.

"Mina!" Galvin cried out, causing the psychic to slam back to her senses.

Raising her foot over the threshold as she stepped through into the Stacks, Mina inhaled deeply. The scent of the hunt filled up completely, the vampire senses screaming at her, as her lungs and heart burnt with abhorrence for that smell.

"The Werewolf…" Mina choked, her build beginning to tremble.

"It must have transformed back by now," Luke reasoned.

"All the more reason for us to end this now," Galvin said in a sinister whisper.

Luke felt a club of realization pound his mind, Galvin couldn't be seriously be thinking of killing a person, could he? Then the little voice in Luke's mind kicked in, the one that sounded a lot like Galvin.

"Us and them, we grade them and we smite them," it firmly stated.

Luke ground his teeth, Galvin and Mina had already started moving along the Beast's trail, so he swiftly followed, doubt hanging over his consciousness.

The bloody mires lay spattered across the Stacks's oak floor, the Thing's claws tearing huge chunks from the dark wood. Luke eyes examined the tracks; half-expecting to see the Wolf's tracks steadily shift from paw prints into foot prints, just like in the movies. As he carefully examined each part of the trail, the splashes of plasma grew smaller and the tears in the floorboards become shallower and shallower. The tracks constantly became closer together; the Werewolf's transformation had slowed its progress, morphing back into its weaker human profile.

The trail abruptly veered off, between two of the Stacks's almighty bookshelves.

"Got you," happily growled Galvin.

The row was short and ended in an ebony stone wall. Two figures lay upon the glossy wood floor. The first was male, in his mid-thirties by the look of him. He was as dead as they come, like the gargantuan hole ripped through his chest didn't say he was dead. The second was a young female. Luke took one glance at her and his heart froze, shock crippling every pulse within him.

The young girl lay on her side, legs hugged to her chest, gore caking her arms up to her elbows. She was far more alive than the man, you could tell by the jagged motions of the crest of her back, as she inhaled strangled breaths.

Galvin's eyes were wide as he too glared at the young figure, his face a perfect picture of shock.

"Oh God…"


	4. The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

**A/N: Thanks for all your great reviews guys! **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine…**

"Ruby…" Luke breathed, he couldn't feel his pulse anymore, his veins had stopped working.

The pieces slotted into place, but the outcome was one Luke could have never wished for.

"Ruby's the Werewolf!" Mina squeaked, her voice a few octaves higher than Luke had ever heard it.

Galvin had gone paler than Arctic snow, quickly grabbing Mina and steering her away from the grisly scene before she did something stupid. Luke took a few cautious steps forward, the boards creaking under his pace. For what seemed the thousandth time in the past hours, the sickening smell of blood creeping into his lungs. Luke knelt down next Ruby's curled up figure, stealing himself what he may have to do.

"Ruby?" he whispered, unknowing of how his friend would react.

Ruby's eyes inched open, hazel orbs swiveling up to meet his gaze, "Oh God…Luke…this isn't what it looks like…"

"I know what you are Ruby," Luke coldly replied, "You're a Werewolf, a Half-Life."

Her eyes began to glaze over, tears ready to fall. Ruby whimpered, trying to rub away the tears, but only succeeding in smearing blood on her face. Luke couldn't bring himself to say anything; he knew he should say something but no words he had heard could bring him to terms with this.

Ruby gasped in disgusted terror, seeing the plasma that coated her arms. Her shoulders began to twitch with violent sobs, pitiful sounds resonating from Ruby's throat.

"Ruby," Luke began.

"I'm not a Monster!" Ruby howled, an echo of the Beast's snarl in her tones.

Again, Luke found that he had lost the power of speech, Ruby's whimpers striking him dumb. His mind flicked to Galvin, a stupor of sickness passing over him, Luke dreading what Galvin may do. Us and them, that was all that mattered to him.

Ruby's sobs began to dwindle, words beginning to form between her lips, "It was terrifying, the first time I transformed…I couldn't control myself…I woke up in my bed…and there was someone's corpse there…" a fresh rush of tears bled down Ruby's face, accompanied by the steady drip off blood.

"Ruby," Luke tried to say, but she snapped back at him, with all the force of a Wolf bite.

"And I guess now you're gonna grade me and smite me," Ruby spat, "Well be my guest, I don't want to live as killer!"

"I wound never pull the trigger," Luke croaked, "you've been my friend ever since we were little, I don't care about what you are…" Luke sighed, he wasn't sure how long he could keep this promise.

Ruby shot him a bitter glance, "How can I trust you?"

"Things aren't as black and white as Galvin paints them," Luke growled. Luke then remembered something, Galvin, what the hell would he do? His stomach set itself stronger than concrete, Luke knew he would have to face Galvin to protect Ruby from being 'Smitten'. Luke also knew that Mina wouldn't help him out on this one, Mina was a Vampire and Ruby was a Werewolf. They hadn't even gotten on when Ruby was human, this was just another foot in the same grave.

Tilting toward Ruby, Luke reached out his hand in a gesture of friendship, hoping that the new Ruby would understand. With swift and un-nerving reactions, Ruby twisted her still red smeared fingers about Luke's, a morbid squelching sounding as her grip tightened like an iron clamp. Luke felt himself internally grimace, wiping the plasma away on his jeans. Loosening the buttons upon his burgundy jacket, and held it out at arm's length to Ruby, who viciously snatched the garment from him before en-circling about herself, vainly attempting to soak away the still wet blood. Ruby took one last glance back at the dead man. Luke could see the disbelief misting over her pupils, unable to understand how she had butchered a fellow human being like that. Luke didn't want to hear or see Ruby cry again, her lunged for her left arm, another round of squelching puncturing the pained silence, and with regret swelling inside him, greater than Luke ever thought possible, he forcefully dragged his Wolf friend away.

As the view of the centre of the Stacks came into Luke's line of vision, he could see Mina sitting on the battered Chesterfield. Her chest swelled and fell as she breathed in great clouds of the Werewolf scent, occasionally her shoulders would irritably twitch, her scarlet painted nails scarring across the worn leather. Galvin had vanished; Luke couldn't help his mind wander about where his Godfather had gone.

Mina had obviously smelt Ruby coming, as her form tightened, shrinking into herself. Luke felt Ruby bristle as she smelt Mina, her footsteps becoming softer, tensing her back and her hands balling into tight fists. The air stank of hate, a smell so thick and repulsive it could gag a maggot.

"Where's Galvin?" Luke asked Mina, pressing down on Ruby's shoulder, trying to encourage her to sit down at the circular table.

"He went out," Mina growled though gritted teeth, "maybe he's going to put the door back on." The last sentence was shot towards Ruby like a bolt from a crossbow. It had the desired effect as Ruby tensed further, feet pressing hard on the floor, knees bending, she was preparing to spring. Another wrath-filled silence passed before Mina decided to load another bolt, "So you haven't got anything to say for yourself?"

"Mina…" Luke groaned, trying to stop the possible fight from erupting.

Ruby said nothing, her body shaking wildly now, maddened by the vampiric scent filling her sensitive sinuses. Her lips began to curl back over her teeth, a silent snarl gurgling from her throat. The desire to strike was beginning to overpower her now, it hadn't been so long ago that Ruby had transformed, so the essence of the Fenrir still burnt in her veins, threatening to take over.

Without warning, an awful bellow thundered from outside of the Stacks, Galvin was back. "Let's finish this now!" he yelled.

Galvin burst from the darkness, one hand grasping his trusty Pulse Gun, the other carrying a flaming torch. The look in his eyes could melt lead at ten paces and Ruby shrunk into her seat, looking like she wanted to vanish into the Earth.

Galvin's stride was purposeful, fowl smoke coiling from the torch forming a trail behind him. Luke darted in front of the enraged Smitter, heart hammering in fear of what Galvin might do. "Galvin," Luke panted, panic forcing his breaths to become dreadfully labored, "you can't seriously be thinking of doing this."

"Well I am thinking of doing this," Galvin swept Luke aside like a hurricane would a sapling, bearing down on Ruby. The bestial rage that had so greatly pumped through her bloodstream was now replaced with a terrible realization that she was back as her weak and fragile human self now, and that she didn't stand a chance against Galvin.

Galvin kicked Ruby's chair over, sending her sprawling across the blood-stained floor, Galvin lowering the smoldering torch; it hung in the air mere inches from Ruby. Luke felt the panic switch to anger, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Luke howled with as much strength as her lungs could muster.

"Next lesson about Werewolves," Galvin snarled, "Fenrir had an affinity with the moon and therefore had a weakness when it came to sunlight. So people figured out that the only way to kill a Werewolf was to burn it alive!"

"But she's human now!" Luke snapped in protest, "Ruby isn't a killer!"

Galvin bellowed again, "I beg to differ. The bodies prove that she is a killer, a stone-hearted Half-Life."

Ruby sobs began to melt into the bedlam of fury created by Galvin and Luke, a sheer terror ripping through her soul, maddened tears spilling down her face.

"Galvin stop!"

Luke and Galvin froze; it had been Mina's voice that had cleared the red mist that had fallen over the Stacks, a crazed mesh of emotions crippling her tone.

Galvin spoke next, his voice confused, "But I thought you'd be eager to see the Wolf dead."

Luke's eye flashed over to her, guts twisting themselves in knots over what Mina may say.

"If you had taken the same attitude with me I wouldn't be here would I?"

"She can't control herself though!" Galvin barked, his argument not wavering.

"Oh, I'd say she's doing a pretty good job at controlling herself now," Mina calmly answered, a slight steel-edged point to her voice.

Galvin's eyes swiveled down, to see Ruby lying in a crumpled heap, her whimpers ripping through his mail of hate. Galvin didn't answer back, a sudden sickened look descending over his face. The great man trembled but only for a single second before raising his strong defenses once more. Mumbling far down in his chest, Galvin stormed off, only to return seconds later, carrying a pair of hefty and cruel manacles instead of the burning torch.

In one fell swoop, he scooped up Ruby's wrists, binding the shackles around them, not flinching as the still wet blood squelched under the handcuffs. Galvin pushed Ruby away, Luke unknowing that the repulsion in his eyes was at Ruby or himself.

"Right," he sniffed, "you got 'till next Full Moon."

Galvin sped toward the stairs, the stench of his hate mingling in the air to create an even more stagnant concoction. He hammered up the stairs and his heavy boots echoed on the stone tunnels beyond the portal.

Luke narrowed his eyes, one of Galvin's favorite phrasing rotating in his mind, the stark reality of it threatening to make him vomit.

"Us and them."


	5. Welcome to Londinium

**A/N: Ugh, sorry about this chapter being quiet late, my computer crashed and I couldn't get at my files. But anyways, hope you enjoy! **

Over the next few days, a thick and throttling air had descended over the Stacks, its talons sinking deep into the new 'temporary' resident. Ruby would sit, hour after hour, hunched in a shadowy corner, humiliation swarming over her like a swarm of angered bees. The medieval shackles bit deep cuts into her pale skin, her 'collar' half-choking her. A studded leather collar had been lashed around her neck, cold-steel chains binding her to a strong iron loop in the wall. Galvin still believed that Ruby wasn't safe, she was a Half-Life now, his policy of 'Us and them' blinding him with ignorance once more.

Luke often could hear, somewhere in the comer of his hearing, the ghostly clanking of chains. His eyes would shift towards the same dark crook, Ruby's curled up figure lurking there, hardly moving, and Luke almost believed she didn't breathe sometimes. The same feeling of uncertainty had infected all in the Stacks, Luke even saw it in the normally composed Mina. Luke reckoned she was regretting sticking up for Ruby, knowing of her hatred for Werewolves so powerful it could demolish mountains. He decided he had to ask her why she had done it, for curiosity's sake more than anything else.

He found Mina loitering in a row of shelves that housed various tomes that appeared to of leapt straight from a fantasy story. Then, Luke guessed, he was already in a fantasy, a very dark and deadly one. Mina idly traced her delicate fingers across the worn leather spines, an aura of wandering hung about her; she was trying to distract herself.

Luke gave out a cough; Mina didn't flinch, a slight sigh rippling through her. "Yes?" she mumbled, not turning about.

"I wanted to ask you something," Luke murmured, drawing closer to the blind psychic.

An air of slight contempt snuck into Mina's voice, "I guess you wanted to ask me why I stuck up for Ruby?"

Luke took another tentative step forward, accidentally brushing against Mina's back. The touch sent a spark coursing through the air, singing the space between them and Luke felt the heat rise in his cheeks once more.

"I guess you can't keep many things from a psychic," Luke said nervously, part of his mind pondering the double-barreled meaning of what he had just said. Mina shifted uncomfortably on her feet, hands gripping tighter to her cane, "I have my reasons," she whispered.

Another heated silence passed, both of them squirming under the sudden pressure that had built up in the atmosphere. The Mina decided to speak, "I was thinking, you want to save Ruby from Galvin's anger don't you?"

"Of course," firmly answered Luke, still wondering why Mina wasn't happy just to let Ruby die.

Mina was trying to regain her composure, Luke could hear it in her voice, "There's only one option as far as I can see, we have to find Ruby a Pack."

"A Pack?" Luke asked.

"In a book on Werewolves I found," Mina began to explain, "It talks about Wolves, who share common goals, forming a group, just like their more canine counterparts."

"So we find a Pack that can help Ruby control herself," reasoned Luke, realizing that Mina had opted to get Ruby out of the way instead of killing her.

Mina nodded, "Exactly."

"So where are we supposed to find one then?" Luke said logically, "A pack should be quite hard to hide in theory."

Mina's blood-red lips curved into a bitter-sweet smile, "Oh, that's the easy part. There's one here in the city."

Luke knew when something was suicidal, and now was one of those occasions. The backstreets of London seemed even more threatening now there was not just one Werewolf out there, but an untold number of them. His eye would constantly sweep the blackness, searching for any sign of movement.

A splash of liquid punctured the tense atmosphere as Ruby trudge through a puddle, the image of the Crescent Moon distorting on the water's surface. Luke had discovered something else about Werewolves. When the moon is out but not full, they part transform, flesh-rending claws where Ruby's nails should have been, teeth like knife blades instead of canines and her once hazel eyes a luminous honey colour.

Mina, naturally, had not let Luke remove the shackles around Ruby's wrists, not wanting to give the 'She-Wolf' a chance to attack. Luke glanced ahead at Mina; she took tentative step after tentative step forward, her breathing labored and heavy. She had insisted coming, even through her pure hate of Werewolves, as she said that the Wolves would be drawn to her like a magnet.

The black silence seemed to continue on forever, not one of them daring to make a sound, everyone of them starting at the smallest noise.

Mina suddenly froze, her form beginning to tremble. Luke knew perfectly well by now what that meant.

"I can hear them," Mina shook.

A snarl began to resonate from Ruby, "I can as well."

Luke didn't understand, he could hear nothing but the distant scream of Police sirens and the breath of blistering wind.

"They're talking to me," quaked Mina, "they've been following us for the last half- an-hour."

Luke understood now, the wolves must have psychic powers as well, "Are they telling you anything else?"

"Keep walking, we'll give you more directions later," Mina repeated automatically from the harsh and rough voices now ricocheting round her mind.

Luke nodded before slightly shoving Ruby between her shoulder blades to awaken her from the sudden bestial mantle that had descended over her. Ruby continued walking, her footsteps becoming softer and more carefully considered, like she was on the hunt.

A new atmosphere had now fallen over the small party, before it had been one of tension and fear, but now the fear remained, but it was a different kind of fear. It was the kind of fear that hung over the condemned as they walked to the gallows.

They continued down the darkened alleys and filthy backstreets, being led by the echoing Werewolf voices now saturating Mina conscious. The vampiress grew steadily more paranoid by the meter, she was trying not to breathe, every gasp labored and shallow at the same time.

An abnormal vale had also fallen over Ruby. Her honey eyes would flick to Mina and an air of smugness would drip from her every pore, but occasionally she would twitch and become alert to an unheard sound. The fear of the unseen danger was getting to all of them, each in very different ways.

"Stop here."

Luke and Ruby halted at Mina's command, each of them analyzing the vast iron doors that spanned the alley. Mina took in another of her labored breaths, and began to violently choke, the pure stench of the Wolf burning her lungs like she had inhaled hot volcanic ash.

"I don't see anything wrong with it," Ruby smugly murmured to herself.

Luke held his tongue after hearing Ruby, and slunk up to Mina. Tentatively, he placed a hand upon her shoulder, his thumb gently stroking her neck. He knew all too well that Ruby's eyes were boring into the back of his skull, the same honey eyes that had tormented him last Full Moon. Yet there was something in him that didn't care, and that seemed to bleed when he Mina suffering like this. Luke lowered his lips to Mina's ear, trying to knit together words to comfort her some way.

"You didn't have to do this," he murmured.

"They might not have come if I hadn't been here," painfully choked Mina.

Luke sighed, his heated breath tickling Mina's ear, causing her coughing fit to cease for a few moments before it started again with new vigor.

"Listen," Luke calmly whispered, "I'll be here right next to you."

Mina forced a smile, "Thank-you."

Luke could easily imagine the expression on Ruby's face right now; it would be more wolf than human. Lips curling back over harsh fangs, eyes burning with contempt. But Luke never got a chance to look as the great steel portal began to shiver, an earthquake starting noise roaring out as it drew back through grooves cut into the tarmac. Two figures each pushed a metal gate; they were both male, simply clad in jeans and T-shirts. Yet the most distinctive thing about both of them was there luminous eyes and their viscous claws. They were Werewolves.

Beyond the gigantic gate lay a darkened warehouse, only lit by the occasionally flickering piece of strip lighting. Luke stared straight into the blackness, there were things moving in the shadows.

Six figures then emerged from the black, there fangs and claws glinting threateningly in the sickly moonshine. Four were male and two were female, each was dressed in a similar fashion, random assortments of simplistic clothing, and each look perfectly capable of turning someone into an unrecognizable carcass.

"You will come with us," their leader, a thick-set male with a wild mane of maroon hair, ordered. With an un-natural synchronicity, four of the Werewolves swamped Mina, claws digging deeply into her arms and shoulders. Mina's choking had abruptly stopped, her already deathly pallor become even more waxen, so her skin looked like it was translucent. Luke felt a deep sickness take root in his stomach as he heard the Werewolves whisper things to Mina, things like 'leech' and 'parasite'. Luke felt the leader's almighty grip tighten around his forearm, the wolf flourishing Mina's cane in his other hand like a trophy.

"We're taking you to IrisStripe," the maroon haired man barked.

Luke watched as a stocky male Werewolf frog-marched Ruby into the black followed by the group of four who hauled Mina through, her feet treading air sometimes. The leader's strength sent Luke lurching forward as he entered the murky dark of the Pack's den.

The Werewolves steered them through various avenues of ancient stacked crates. All the while, figures prowled through the pitted darkness, many shades of iris shining through the gloom. Sometimes they would emerge into the faint glow of the weak lighting, humans of all kinds, now equipped as lupine killers, and try to take a swipe at Mina. She let off a high squeal as a slender blonde female took a sudden swipe at her feet, all the time, the wolf wore a macabre grin.

Ruby bristled when any Werewolf looked her way though, flashing her fangs and tensing her back. The Pack had already taken a deep and powerful mistrust of her and vice versa; this had been a definite mistake Luke thought.

Gradually, the constricting avenue widened up to form a clearing in the forest of crates. At the centre of the circle lay a high heap of boxes and sitting atop the mound was a figure, calmly waiting. Somehow the phrase 'lambs to the slaughter' placed itself in Luke's mind.

At the speed of a gust of wind, the figure leapt from his sitting position and jumped from the hill, landing with gymnast skill in front of them. A flowing crown of straight black hair, latticed with deep green, spilt lazily over his scar coated shoulders. A mess of barbarous wounds curled over his ample arms, mixed with a tattooed pattern of the same dark green that laced his hair. Like seemed to be the Werewolf custom, he dressed uncomplicatedly, and string of glittering military dog tags was lashed about his neck.

This must have been IrisStripe.

IrisStripe flicked a slick signal to the group of four, who promptly dumped Mina on the tarmac, one striking his foot against her back for good measure. Mina crumpled to the ground, gloved hands desperately searching across the floor. "Luke," she pathetically whimpered over-and-over. The wolf who had kicked her before struck her again, this time in the side.

"Quiet," he snapped, sniggers of the rest of the Pack drifting from the edge of the ring. Luke started to wrestle with a sudden surge of almost vampiric hate that streamed through his gut, and then IrisStripe's storm grey eyes flicked upon him. Luke felt his limbs seize up, IrisStripe stalking towards him, contented smirk plastered across his features.

"Mr. Van Helsing," IrisStripe sneered, "welcome to Londinium."

Luke couldn't force any words from his throat, so IrisStripe continued, "I am David IrisStripe, the Alpha of the Londinium Pack," his tone changed faster than a human could blink, "why have you come here?"

Luke still couldn't find any words to fling at this Werewolf. IrisStripe sighed, "How about more questions then? Why have you brought this leech here? And what about this Werewolf?" IrisStripe began to smirk once again, "Give me my answers Luke Van Helsing."

"How do you know my name?" Luke murmured, words finally presenting themselves in his brain.

IrisStripe let of a lupine bark of laughter, the rest of his Pack following suit, "Don't we all know the name of our enemies?"

"I didn't come here to fight you," Luke curtly answered back.

"Then what?"

"I wanted you to do something for me."

The cogs clicked into place, "Ah, you want me to take on your young Werewolf friend."

Luke gave a solemn nod.

IrisStripe swivelled his eyes to Ruby, her honey eyes meeting his storm grey ones. Ruby narrowed her eyes, form tense, bestial rage beginning to hammer round her veins.

"You surprise me Van Helsing," IrisStripe stated, "what happened to your policy of 'I will surely smite thee?"

"Galvin," muttered Luke under his breath, feeling a sudden flare of disrespect for his Godfather.

"Yes...as I remember correctly, twenty years ago, this Pack would have been wiped from the face of the earth if it hadn't been for the old Alpha, thanks to a certain Rupert Galvin of course," all through his statement, IrisStripe looked like he was fighting the urge to spit.

Luke needed to amend the situation, as they were heading closer to the 'be butchered' option, "I'm not like that, I don't see things completely black or white."

"Not just Humans and Half-Lives then, feeling some humanity Van Helsing?"

"Listen IrisStripe," Luke suddenly growled, IrisStripe's face swiftly falling, "she would have been dead by now I if hadn't done anything. So are you going to take her or what?

IrisStripe folded his arms, face setting into an expression that reminded Luke of Galvin, "Ever since the Londinium Pack has been formed, we have agreed to take on all 'strays' and all those who have been forced into the same dystopia as we all have. I therefore have no choice."

IrisStripe signalled to the stocky Werewolf holding Ruby, the man's grip relaxing as he stalked back into the shadows to join the other members of the Pack. IrisStripe held his palm out to Luke, "Key."

Luke reached into his jacket's inner pocket and pulled out the key to Ruby's shackles, dropping it into IrisStripe's palm.

An ominous click echoed from the cuffs and a clang followed as they heavily fell onto the floor. Ruby's anger subsided, confusion replacing the hate on her face.

"Van Helsing, take your pet leech and go. Thomas, take them out." IrisStripe stated.

The group surrounding Mina dispersed, the maroon haired wolf lifting her up by the collar of her leather coat. Mina continued to whimper incomprehensibly, figure trembling with fear and pain. Luke defensively raped and arm around her waist, trying to support her on her feet as Thomas drove them down the alley of crate they had come down originally, with Mina's cane.

"I'm here," Luke breathed to Mina, "I've got you."

"Move," Thomas snapped, as they slid into the near blackness of the alleys of boxes.

Ruby watched Luke and Mina vanish into the near dark. "What happens now?" she asked IrisStripe.

"Ah so you can talk," he sarcastically sneered.

Ruby didn't dare answer back; he was the Alpha, the boss, the leader. She didn't want to screw her chances here up even more than they already had been.

IrisStripe then answered Ruby's question, "You stay here and we wait 'till Full Moon, then we start your integration."

"What's integration?"

"You'll find out..." IrisStripe said cryptically. He then roared to the rest of the Pack, "This meeting is over, get back to your business."

The wolves began to disperse back into the shadow, Ruby couldn't move, her legs felt like they had been cast in lead, her stomach beginning to weigh more than a lump of granite.

"That includes you, remember, you're one of us now," IrisStripe snarled, shoving her into the leaving masses before springing off into the black himself.

Ruby was sucked into the mass of Werewolves, many of them flashing her looks of hate, mistrust or confusion. Ruby slowly walked through the darkness, a cloud of misery hanging over her, this was her life now. She was one of the Pack.

Back outside, the thunderous doors slid closed, leaving Luke and Mina outside in the burning cold. Luke still clung tightly to the shivering Mina, a feeling of helplessness emanating from her. That werewolf still had her cane.

Luke tried to think of something to say. "At least it's over now," he decided to say.

He immediately regretted saying this as Mina steeled herself to say something; it was never a good idea to bet against a psychic.

"I highly doubt that," she whispered.


End file.
